President Buhari Doing Well, Needs Like-minds In States – Ribadu

President Muhammadu Buhari is reforming Nigeria and requires individuals with similar disposition to trickle down the reforms to the grassroots, a former EFCC chairman, Nuhu Ribadu, has said.

Mr Ribadu stated this in Yola on Saturday while declaring his intention to vie for the governorship post of the state.

He said Mr Buhari has “changed the face of conducting government business in this country” by enshrining transparency and accountability in public sector.

If elected, he said, he will replicate similar traits in handling the affairs of Adamawa State.

“It is a common consensus that Nigeria is today a different place on account of the leadership being provided by our dear president,” he said.

According to him, “The days of free for all corruption and wanton abuse of our resources are behind us and Nigeria is opening a new vista in giving the citizens a reason to once again be proud of their country.

“In this drive to change Nigeria, I believe our president needs support of individuals with similar vision, especially at the sub-national level,” he added.

Mr Ribadu said the changes being witnessed should not be only at the federal level, saying states must key in for it to be impactful.

“It is not enough to have a reformed federal government and an honest and sincere president, this has to be replicated at other tiers of government for us to have all-encompassing progress we desire,” he said.

According to him, his aspiration is driven by “passion to uplift the community that I have; it is that spirit with which I am known, all my life. It is that zeal that saw me going into a career in law enforcement to fight injustice and bring about development”.

In his remarks, Adamawa state chairman of APC, Ibrahim Bilal, pledged that the party will be fair and just in conducting the forthcoming primaries.

He said any of the three aspirants who eventually picked the ticket would be supported by the party to victory.

Read the full speech below:

Let me begin by thanking God almighty for sparing our lives to witness this auspicious day. We commence this journey in His name and we invoke his guidance throughout.

I appreciate you all, brothers and sisters for the overwhelming reception you accord me, which is evidenced in the number of people who troop out under the sun to welcome me home. There is no greater show of solidarity than this sacrifice to come out and display sheer love and support. This is very encouraging to me as a person.

This is not an ordinary day for me, and I believe it is not for the rest of the patriotic citizens of this State who desire development, who desire hope, who look up for purposeful leadership.

Today, I come to you as your son and brother who defines himself in the spirit of community service and development.

In the past months, I have had deep reflections about our country and state of affairs in both Nigeria and Adamawa State. As a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and indeed as one who played his own part at the formative stage of the party, I am most proud of a number of things the APC government led by President Muhammadu Buhari.

It is a common consensus that Nigeria is today a different place on account of the leadership being provided by our dear President. Both his friends and foes have agreed that President Buhari has changed the face of conducting government business in this country. The days of free for all corruption and wanton abuse of our resources are behind us and Nigeria is opening a new vista in giving the citizens a reason to once again be proud of their country.

In this drive to change Nigeria, I believe our president needs support of individuals with similar vision, especially at the sub-national level. It is not enough to have a reformed federal government and an honest and sincere president, this has to be replicated at other tiers of government for us to have all-encompassing progress we desire.

The reason for my being here today is that passion to uplift the community that I have; it is that spirit with which I am known, all my life. It is that zeal that saw me going into a career in law enforcement to fight injustice and bring about development.

My philosophy, is in that upbringing that taught us to put the interest of the public over any other consideration. In life of service, one’s first consideration should be the impact one makes under the circumstance. It is therefore that same will to serve that is responsible for me offering myself for our dear state.

Adamawa is in dire need for leadership. A leadership that encompasses the qualities of a good leadership; a leadership that will not lie, a leadership that will not deceive, a leadership that will not put its interests over and above the interest of the entire state. We need a leadership that will restore our dignity as a people and one that will be honest and forthright.

Our dear state is facing a number of developmental challenges that require urgent, holistic and strategic handling. We do not need to cosmetics, which do not address fundamental issues that are cornerstone to our development as a people. It takes visionary leadership with capacity and modern thinking to provided that needed redirection, beyond deceptive makeup.

It is this much-needed leadership that I promise to offer to our people. I come with genuine intention and I have a burning passion to change the fortunes of our people for good. With all sense of humility, believe I possess the requisite credentials, both academic and character, required to move this state forward. I will run an all-inclusive government where all stakeholders like you truly have stakes.

As we move into the primaries, what we require from you, our party leaders, is utmost level of responsibility by allowing free and fair contest. We cannot afford to manipulate our party into failure. Injustice can never stand. Even if it does, it would be on shaky foundations which can collapse at any time. Therefore, skewing a process like the primaries to favour one person, even though unpopular, may only lead our great party to failure, something no genuine party member would desire.

I would appeal to all political actors in the state, especially my fellow aspirants, to play politics within the ambits of the rule of law. We should eschew antagonism or stoking primordial sentiments. Elections would come and go but the people will always be together. We should not explore the misfortunes and living conditions of our people to advance ourselves. Even if you succeed in doing that in the interim, you cannot escape the haunting consequences of such action forever.